AEW Dark Elevation results: Penelope Ford returns

This week’s edition of AEW Dark Elevation was filmed before Quake by the Lake last week in Minneapolis. Excalibur and “Daddy Magic” Matt Menard were on the call to start the show.

Josh Woods & Tony Nese (w/ Mark Sterling) defeated Arik Cannon & Travis Titan

The two indie competitors in this one come from the midwest area and got a big pop from the crowd, especially Arik Cannon, who comes from the Twin Cities area. The team of Woods and Nese targeted Titan to start the match, working slowly. Cannon got the hot tag and worked to the crowd but Woods broke up a near fall after a corkscrew suplex. Woods and Nese each hit hard knees onto their opponents and then connected on an assisted neck breaker for the win.

The Dark Order (Alex Reynolds, Evil Uno, John Silver & 10) defeated Adam Grace, Drew System, Rylie Jackson & TJ Cooper

John Silver started out the match showing off his great power. Each Dark Order member took their turn hitting their own creative move. The Dark Order cleared out the ring and then chose to do the finish on this poor fella that was wearing short shorts and plaid leggings. The Dark Order connected with a pendulum slam and pinned System for the win.

Serena Deeb defeated Sierra

They started the contest with a test of strength and Deeb won, but Sierra fought back with some forearms. This match was mostly back and forth until Deeb hit the detox followed by the serenity lock for the win.

Konosuke Takeshita defeated Cezar Bononi

They worked really hard and it made for a fun, quick match. This was Bononi’s first appearance in AEW in a month and with how over Takeshita is right now, you can expect where this one was going. Cezar Bononi was working full heel, using the ropes and other dirty tactics. Cezar Bononi hit a big back elbow and a tiger driver for a near fall. Takeshita fought back with two huge knees that knocked out Bononi for the win.

Julia Hart defeated Free-Range Kara

Lots of wrestlers tonight come from the F1RST Organization based in Minneapolis, including Kara.

Julia Hart got out of the gates hot, with a big boot and hellacious clothesline on the outside. I think Kara got in one offensive move during the entire match. Hart took her down by the neck then locked in an abdominal submission for the win. That is now Julia Hart’s 8th straight win in AEW.

Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) defeated Jah-C & JDX

I think Private Party’s entrance took longer than this match did. They got it over with quickly, taking out both members and quickly connected with the Gin and Juice for the win. Private Party takes on the tag team champions Swerve in Our Glory on Friday’s Rampage.

Penelope Ford defeated Heather Reckless

This was Ford’s first appearance with AEW since January of this year. She dominated in her return except for a few right hands from Reckless. Ford rolled out of the ring and baited Reckless into a right hand and threw her hard into the barricade. Commentary noticed Kip Sabian in the front row with the box on his head. He’s been stalking PAC in recent weeks during his All-Atlantic Title matches.

Ford rolled Reckless back into the ring, hit the gutbuster, then locked in the Indian Deathlock for the win.

The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) defeated JT Energy & Justin Fowler

Max Caster had a great freestyle to kick things off, mentioning things like the Trump FBI raid and the breakup of Kim K and Pete Davidson.

The Acclaimed were great as always, coordinating on huge moves in the corner and cleared the ring of both JT Energy and Justin Fowler. They hit their patented scissor handshake, then Caster connected with an elbow drop for the win.

Thunder Storm (Thunder Rosa & Toni Storm) & Hikaru Shida defeated Emi Sakura, Marina Shafir & Nyla Rose (w/ Vickie Guerrero)

Shida and Sakura got things started. but it didn’t last very long. Both teams entered the ring quickly and knocked each other off. The heel team got the upper hand first with Emi Sakura folding up Shida and sipping on her tea. Rose came in and was followed by Toni Storm who took out the entire heel team. This was a hot match with nonstop action. Toni Storm hit a hip attack in the corner and then countered a suplex with a DDT on Shafir for the win.

Final Thoughts:

Lots of matches on this short 45-minute show. I loved the matches that had a direction, but others just felt like a waste of time, especially considering how much talent AEW has on the roster. It’s fun when you are there in the crowd, you can see some fan favorites. But at home watching on YouTube, most of it feels pointless.